caycay | IC Inbox

hey hey cay-cay!

how are you doing? adjusting well?

[she absolutely has ulterior motives for messaging him. the memories behind those motives might be fuzzy, but her phone notes definitely say "prnicess msuic club" (totally nailed it on the third word, nice) and she is 99.9% certain the fuzzy redhead in her memory around this note is indeed Cater Diamond.]

OMG hey girl heeeeey!!! 😉
u bet I am!! everything's coming up cay-cay tbh LOL
how've u been??? we gotta hang soon!

that's great! glad you're having an easy time : ) let me know if you have any problems!

we do have to see each other! how else will princess music club get started?

u r so right and SO real

[Princess Music Club...that's right. How could he have forgotten? The many, many drinks he had during that party could only work so hard.]

we have so much planning to do 👑🎸🤘🤘🤘 LOL
I'm excited 2 get cookin!!!
u me and kalim have gotta find a home base

yeah!! (و•̀ᴗ•́)۶⋆✴︎˚｡⋆ me too!

the garden changes up too much and idk if there's community rooms in the hotel but i'll find out. until then, we can all meet up at my room if you want!

[is she stupid or does she just really trust the two strange boys she's inviting to her room? yes!]

[It's a good thing that Cater and Kalim are basically harmless. Basically.]

sounds like a plan 2 me 🤝 when should we hold our inaugural PMC meetup??
we'll make sure we bring lots of snacks!!! 😋

[they're bad influences maybe, but she was probably going to do stupid things regardless...]

um... everyone's always busy on saturdays so how abouuuuut thuuuuursdays?

speaking of snacks, does kalim eat stuff if YOU eat it first?

Yeah, pretty much. Like he trusts whatever Lils and I get him isn't gonna be poisoned but we'd still take the first bite.

[Man, a rough way to live. Cater can't imagine not being able to put whatever he wants in his mouth at all times.]

can't say I mind it from my end tho, 'cause I like food LOL
does worry me abt him tho...is he still doing that here???? it's not like anyone would want to poison him...

that's what I said! but it looks like it's still a big problem. or it was worse before mr. lion showed up?

[she loves food, too... which is probably why she's so bothered seeing it happen, more than any noble cause. Just pure sympathy over a terrible relationship with food...

also she absolutely knows "mr. lion"'s name. she just can't get over the fact he's a lion.]

but if you're around, it'll probably be okay.

so what kind of snacks are you into?

[Ah, good, he was glad to hear that. So, Big Bad Leona Kingscholar wasn't totally slacking off on babysitting duty. Not that Cater thought he was. He'd have to think of some subtle way to thank him for helping Kalim try and loosen up on himself.]

tbh I'll eat anything buuuuuut for me, the spicier the better 😈🌶️🌶️🌶️🥵🔥 LOL hbu??

ooh how daring!

I'll eat anything too though. missing out on good snacks is a no-go! there might be stuff thats a little tooooo spicy for me though. I'm a total savory gal

[after a heart to heart, a meeting, and quick walk home montage, Fearless and Cater find themselves in the Hellraiser Hotel again. The inside of Fearless's apartment can only be described as 'retrofuturistic', with clean white metal walls all segmented with orange accents. it isn't immediately clear where the closet or bathroom or anything else is, at least not to someone who isn't from 216X Mars.

what is immediately visible is the bed at the far end of the room, the sunken 'conversation pit' style reclining area with its orange leather couchette, a window directly across from the door letting in the blurry view of a glowing neon night in Tharsis. There's also some kind of tiny little kitchenette in the corner, and if Cater looks up, one of those segmented walls is retracted for a view of the stars one could never get in a city.

there is very little in the way of personal effects in the room despite Fearless saying he's been here a year. a little trash can by the door is littered with takeout boxes, there's like four ashtrays on separate surfaces, and there's an actual car engine in front of the couch, but other than that and the pre-furnished parts, it's rather bare.]

Go ahead and get comfy. Or, uh, you can leave your stuff on the table, if you want.

[he himself goes over to the coffee table that is next to that car engine, starting to pull his keycard, phone, a pack of actual cigarettes and the joints he'd snagged from earlier and his wallet, out to drop on the table, too.]

[By the time they reach Fearless' room, Cater is definitely more subdued. There's still a buzz he's riding on, but between his overall demeanor and ability to walk steadily on his feet, it's clear that the combination of water, fresh air, and time has helped him move a significant pace closer to lucidity. For awhile, he just kind of takes it in, curious as he is enchanted by these unfamiliar aesthetics.]

Never seen vibes quite like these, before. I really dig it, actually.

[He'd be tempted to take some photos, but...nah. Not right now. He pauses, instead, to watch Fearless emptying his pockets. Considers for a quiet moment...then comes over, adding his own few possessions onto the table as well. There's not much--just his phone and keycard, seeing that he'd sort of just bounced around from location to location all day and night since his arrival without ever stopping to acclimate himself. It felt like it meant something, though, to put them down. An affirmation that he wasn't planning on trying to cut and run.]

Don't spend a lot of time here, do you?

[Fearless doesn't look at Cater when he answers;]

Well, y'know. I stay busy.

[—but he does look up at Cater after that, still all gentle with his smile.]

There is food, though, if you're hungry. And we can smoke more if you want.

[hands resting in his pockets, Fearless sort of wiggles slowly side to side, still angling himself toward Cater. it's probably going to become clear Fearless doesn't tend to sit or stand very still for very long, but it's not exactly like he's antsy that Cater's here, either.]

[Cater knew the signs of a house you didn't consider yours. Of course, a hotel room in Hell was effectively a rental space by definition. Cater wasn't going to look into it too hard right now--it was better, anyway, if neither of them learned too much more about each other. In the span of one night, he already felt like he'd revealed too much of himself. It was less dangerous to do that with a stranger, but only if they stayed strangers.

Fearless had said he wanted to see him again, so...it was time to be a bit more cautious.]

Nah. I'm pretty bloated from all that liquid in me. I don't mind smoking more.

[He could go either way, on that. If Fearless wanted to smoke more, he'd smoke with him. If he didn't, that was fine, too. Cater's eyes keep going back over to that peek of stars.]

Would it be cool if we sat over there?

Sure, yeah.

The bathroom's past that— orange wall there? It opens when you step up to it, so.

Whenever you need it.

[Fearless grabs the pack off the table and beckons Cater along with him to the bed, where the view is most easily accessed long-term without neck pain. He flops onto his back with his legs hanging off the edge, leaving room for Cater on the other side and starting to pull one of those joints out again.

he doesn't particularly care what happens one way or another from here. there's a lot of things that could happen that might be nice, but he isn't particularly leaning one way or another tonight. if anything, Cater's already given him enough tonight, making him feel for just a moment the way he did around Angel— at least, similarly.

so he waits, really, for some kind of indication of what Cater needs in return, fussing with the joint until he's got it how he wants it and breathing a little puff of flame out to light it.]

[It's a tossup for Cater, too. As he flops down beside Fearless, he's still trying to decide where his head is at. He was the kind of person who could force himself to be energized even when he was running on empty, which...he's realizing now that he's horizontal, he very much is. Social battery hovering dangerously at 1%. The problem was, the guy he was with was much more likely to notice if Cater was forcing it, and he didn't want Fearless to think he was doing that because of him. Like he wanted it any less.

No, he did want to get fucked. He wanted to wrap himself up in anything that would allow him respite from his own brain. Wanted, in turn, to show Fearless a good time for the attention and consideration he'd given.

But right now, he can't stop staring at those stars.]

It's so beautiful.

Nice, right?

Almost makes me miss being out in space.

[terrible place to live. beautiful place to die. really strange place to revisit when dead.

He blows little rings of smoke that spiral out and disappear before they reach the skylight, passing the joint absently Cater's way, tapping his wrist with the back of his hand for attention.]

I know the views in these places aren't real, but they do a damn good job of looking like it.

You were in space? That explains it...I've never seen stars look like this on the ground. Not even when I went stargazing outside the city.

[Whatever city or town he was in at the time. Not even on Sage Island. The view here can't compare, even if it's just a magical copy. Cater accepts the joint, taking a slow, unhurried drag.

Almost, though, Fearless had said. Cater wasn't distracted enough not to notice. He passes the joint back again, but doesn't comment on that admission. Between that, and the overall unlived-in state of the room, a picture was slowly painting itself. A place that didn't hold very many happy memories.]

I've liked looking at the stars as long as I can remember. I like studying them.

Ah, sort of. I mean, you're probably from Earth... or... something that looks like Earth. I was one planet further out from the sun.

[. . .

a beat, and Fearless presents in a voice that, if one were to assume that he were that kind of person, might sound almost bashful in the way a punk asking about something he isn't supposed to be into might ask, or the way a child might ask if they don't want to seem too eager.]

What kinda things do you study about stars?

I'm from a world called Twisted Wonderland.

[If it looked like Earth, Cater wouldn't know--he's never heard of it. Maybe it was the place that the Prefect came from?]

Astrology, mostly. I'm into all kinds of fortune telling, but that's my favorite.

[One of the only classes he actively pays attention in and enjoys learning about independently. Certainly the only class that was primarily lecture based. A smile plays on his lips to actually talk about one of his interests, and he finally shifts to look more at Fearless versus the view.]

[Fearless turns his head to look at Cater, too, and there is a smile to match. they're almost like kids at a sleepover like this, really. he points to Cater and;]

That explains so much about you, actually.

You're one of those magic boys like Idia.

[rude that they're all obnoxiously gorgeous, but Fearless kind of likes the idea that one of them is into astrology, actually.]

You're not gonna tell me there's star magic, are you?

Yeah! Idia and I are suuuper tight--we're total besties!

[Caters laughs, grin going wide. Clearly, he doesn't mind the "accusation".]

Nah. Cosmic magic, but it's more, like, light and darkness. I can show you, later, if you want.

[When his pen isn't on the table, which I forgot that he had on him and didn't mention. It's fine. He has decided to disarm himself. Important.]

That would be pretty cool, though.

[Fearless snickers at the comment of 'besties'. Yeah, he's sure. You and him both, Cater.]

...Yeah, y'know, I'd love to see it. Magic on Mars is just sleight-of-hand, so.

[he reaches to tap ash off onto a tray on the bedside table before puffing and passing once again;]

Astrology's still pretty popular on Mars, too. I am—

[he has to laugh—]

kinda struggling to imagine fortune telling class, though, man.

One of my underclassmen is really into that--sleight-of-hand tricks. He's pretty good! Definitely needs to work on perfecting it, though. He's made some other kids pretty mad getting caught cheating at cards.

[Oh, Ace. Such a troublemaker...but Cater couldn't help feeling fond, anyway.]

I could show you that, too, sometime. I'm sure I can find some materials if I go shopping; most fortune telling is popular among non-magic users, just like astrology, so...I mean, like, can definitely help you read your tea leaves, if nothing else.

[He winks.]

Anyway, what's your sign?

['underclassmen'. these guys really do just have normal lives, don't they? Cater paints a picture in Fearless's mind of a kind of company Fearless is only just getting settled into accepting here in the afterlife.

ah, maybe the way he looks away from Cater can be passed off as just thinking that wink was too cute. it's not like he seems put off, or anything. put off isn't the right feeling. it's somewhere between fascinated and melancholy, really. saudades, nostalgia for something he's never known.]

Tell you what.

Guess with me. I'll guess one, you guess one.

IC Inbox - Heckin

some time in may after the party that never ended

some say they're still partying to this day

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time isn't real but it's after the party

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